Where Do We Draw The Line?

Wednesday's Devotion (1-4-06)

"Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity." 1 Timothy 5:1-2 (KJV)

God knows, I've had my share of problems with obeying this particular verse of the Bible. I have an order of how I believe: Bible first, if it's against the teachings in the Bible... I don't believe it. If I need advice, I've gone to elders at times. By elders, I'm not talking about the elders of a church I go to. I'm talking about elders that I know, that are Christians. I don't have a regular church. I might not agree with everything that the elders I know say, but I'm not quick to rebuke them either. I usually let it slide, unless it's something really crazy/against the Bible. But the elders I go to, don't have crazy beliefs really. They're Biblical people. So, to me... I think that we need to be wise in choosing the elders that we associate ourselves with. If you have an elder of a church, etc that you just can't agree with, and you have to bite your tongue in order to respect him/her... Then you need to get out of there. You need to find different people to associate with, or if it's a church setting you need a different church.

The reason I say that, is because I have a problem. I have a problem believing that God would want me to let someone deceive others, even if they are the elder, and even if I am the baby of the church, etc. I just can't allow myself to think that God would want me to sit quietly, when I know that it is wrong. I can't believe that God would want me to fill my head with garbage that goes against the Bible. To me, that's like telling another human, "Ok, undo the work that God did in me. Fill me with your trash." So, I have to believe that there is a limit on this verse. There has to be some where to draw the line here. But where do we draw the line? I wish we had something to show your feed back on this subject, because I'd like to hear it. Where do we draw the line? If you have any comments about it, then I guess just post them in the guestbook, or on the message board. This is a subject that I'm most likely going to study more. Some people let the elders run their entire lives for them. Where do we just say, "Ok, that's enough?" How much power are the elders really supposed to have? Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree with the scriptures. I'm just saying that there has to be a balance to it. To me it seems that the elders can tell some people to jump, and the people will say, "How high?" I've seen elders ruin lives, but there are a lot of elders who are great elders. I just want to know the balance of it. I also just want to point out to everyone that there has to be a balance to it! We're supposed to submit to God first, and if the elder isn't submitted to God also... How will it work? My suggestion is to find a church with kind and wise elders. Elders that know the Bible well. Not just because they say they've read the Bible for 30 years + either, but because the knowledge shines through in them! If you don't have a good elder, then you're truly missing out... But if your elder is corrupt, then you're missing out even more. An elder can truly be like a spiritual dad, or a mother. It's great to have someone that you can love like a dad, especially for people like me... Because my dad is dead now.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message, and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins, and we forgive all those who've wronged us. Please help us to have balance that you would have us to have with our elders. Where do we draw the line Father? You have the answer, guide us with your wisdom. In Jesus name. A-men!

God bless!

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